University of Chicago Bans Devices and AI in Core Classrooms

The University of Chicago is pulling laptops, phones and generative AI out of two of its most demanding required programs this fall. First-year law students and undergraduates in Social Sciences Core sequences will work from paper, take notes by hand and discuss material without screens in the room.

The law school moved first. On July 9, 2026, it published “Rethinking Legal Education in the AI Era.” Dean Adam Chilton, who became the school’s 15th dean on July 1, 2025, and Professor William H. J. Hubbard, chair of the faculty AI Committee, said students must learn to think without AI before they learn to use it. The committee was formed in early 2023, after ChatGPT’s public release at the end of 2022.

Beginning in the 2026-27 academic year, personal devices are banned in the nine core first-year courses: Civil Procedure, Torts, Elements of the Law, Contracts, Property, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Statutory Interpretation and Transactional Lawyering. Exams in those courses will be given in class, with no internet, electronic files or apps. The Socratic method remains the center of those rooms.

Limited exceptions apply. A professor may appoint a classroom “scribe” to take shared electronic notes. Devices may be used for defined tasks such as in-class polling. Disability accommodations continue. Legal Research and Writing will still introduce AI after students first write without it. Upper-level electives and an AI Lab launched in August 2025 will teach tools already used in law firms. Chilton has said students in the banned rooms will work with a notebook and a pen.

Undergraduate rules followed weeks later. Jenny Trinitapoli, professor of sociology and Master of the Social Sciences Collegiate Division, issued guidance around August 1, 2026. The Chicago Maroon obtained the memo and reported it on August 23, 2026. Core sequences for academic year 2027 are to be taught as “analog” courses. Students will read on paper, attend in person and keep laptops, phones and wearable AI out of class. Recording lectures is prohibited. Assignments must be completed without AI. Syllabi must be written by human scholars. AI-assisted grading is barred unless a professor can show it matches human grading.

Trinitapoli wrote that the Core first equips students “to read, write, and think without dependence on AI.” Faculty who already tried paper-only rooms said attention improved. Sarah Hammerschlag, who leads the Religion: Cosmos, Conscience and Community sequence, used a printed course reader last spring and said students were more invested when they were not on separate screens. Paul Cheney, who leads Power, Identity and Resistance, said laptops brought in for PDFs often drifted to email. Daragh Grant, who leads Classics of Social and Political Thought, said many students prefer a clear ban to a vague one.

The policy is not a campus-wide shutdown of technology. Instructors may still open devices to examine a dataset, troubleshoot code, revise a page of text or check citation guidance. Approved accommodations remain. Faculty who want to experiment with AI must consult divisional leadership. The rules cover Core sequences and first-year law classes, not graduate programs and not the full university. President Paul Alivisatos has said AI can help with analysis but independent thought still has to come first. Officials say the policies will be reviewed as the technology changes.

References

• University of Chicago Law School. “Rethinking Legal Education in the AI Era.” July 9, 2026.

• University of Chicago Law School. “AI at UChicago Law.” July 9, 2026.

• Reuters. “Chicago Law bans phones and laptops from first-year classes to combat AI.” July 9–10, 2026.

• Business Insider. “Laptops Closed: Chicago Law School Adopts New Rule to Combat AI.” July 10, 2026.

• ABA Journal. “University of Chicago Law School restricts AI, bans personal devices for 1Ls.” July 10, 2026.

• CBS Chicago. “University of Chicago Law School AI strategy bans phones, laptops in class for first year students.” July 10, 2026.

• Boris Archipov. “Sosc Core to Institute AI Ban, Technology-Free Classrooms This Fall.” Chicago Maroon. August 23, 2026.

• Michael T. Nietzel. “The University Of Chicago Bans AI, Other Technology, In More Courses.” Forbes. August 24, 2026.

• Kathryn Palmer. “UChicago Goes ‘Analog’ for Some Courses.” Inside Higher Ed. August 26, 2026.

• GovTech. “UChicago Social Sciences Took a Stand Against AI and Devices. Why?” September 2026.

• Financial Times. “Law schools tell students to put AI away.” September 7, 2026.

• University of Chicago Law School. “Adam Chilton Becomes 15th Dean of the University of Chicago Law School.” October 20, 2025.

• University of Chicago Law School. “AI Lab is Coming to UChicago Law.” August 11, 2025.